SPERANSKY GRIGORY PETROVICH, _an ex-seminarist; tall, very lean, with
a pale, long face, and a tuft of dark hair on his chin. He has long,
smooth hair parted in the middle and falling on each side of his
face. He is dressed either in a long, dark overcoat or in a dark
frock-coat._

FATHER KONDRATY, _a friar, forty-two years old, ugly, narrow-chested,
with swollen, animated eyes._

VASSYA, _a novice, a strong and athletic youth of nineteen. He has a
round, cheerful, smiling face, and curly, lustrous hair._

KING HEROD, _a pilgrim, about fifty. He has a dry, emaciated face,
black from sunburn and road dust. His gray, dishevelled hair and beard
give him a savage appearance. He has only one arm, the left. He is as
tall as Savva._

A FAT MONK.

A GRAY MONK.

A MAN IN PEASANT OVERCOAT. _Monks, pilgrims, cripples, beggars, blind
men and women, monstrosities._

_The action takes place at the beginning of the twentieth century in a
rich monastery celebrated for its wonder-working ikon of the Saviour.
There is an interval of about two weeks between the first and the last
act._